


Shock and Awe

by Ishyko



Category: Kings
Genre: AU, Kings AU, M/M, OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:27:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ishyko/pseuds/Ishyko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corporal Gardner, the originator of the question glared at the back of Andrews’ head. “That makes no fuckin’ sense.”</p><p>Sergeant Major Christos growled. “Shut it. Stay sharp. Two klicks to base. This is where most get sloppy.”</p><p>Lieutenant David Shepherd bit his tongue hard to keep from laughing and did as the Sergeant bid. It really wouldn’t look good to have the officer in charge be the one who blundered and got them killed because he was so busy laughing his head off he didn’t pay attention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shock and Awe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foxlives](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxlives/gifts).



> Soooo, this story is a complete AU, as in if you notice events not matching up with the show then think, oh yeah, it's an AU. I did intend for things to happen out of order. And yeah, I had an OC do stuff that a character on the show actually did. That character's not in my story. Just an FYI.
> 
> It is a complete story. It's just I had a lot more I wanted to put in there so there's actually a part 2 (sorta) coming, as in there's more to this story that will come within the next few days I just didn't make the deadline. So I'm so very sorry. I hang my head in shame.
> 
> This is sooo un-beta'd it hurts. I live in all tenses. I am aware of that. It'll get fixed.
> 
> And there's a reference to "el tee" which is the pronunciation of "L" "T" in case it pulls you out.  
> More notes at bottom.

  

“Why is getting in is so easy but the return trip so hard?”

 

Corporal Andrews snorted. “That’s what she said.”

 

Corporal Gardner, the originator of the question glared at the back of Andrews’ head. “That makes no fuckin’ sense.”

 

Sergeant Major Christos growled. “Shut it. Stay sharp. Two klicks to base. This is where most get sloppy.”

 

Lieutenant David Shepherd bit his tongue hard to keep from laughing and did as the Sergeant bid. It really wouldn’t look good to have the officer in charge be the one who blundered and got them killed because he was so busy laughing his head off he didn’t pay attention.

 

“You heard him men,” Shepherd said softly. “We’re already overdue.”

 

^^^***^^^

 

The last month of the war here, at the border, had been incredibly quiet and predictable.

 

Which had everyone bored and on edge at the same time.

 

At random times during the day two Gilboan infantrymen would pop up and rattle of a few shots. Minutes or hours later Gath would return fire with a single round from one of their massive Goliath tanks.

 

Courtesies having been exchanged, duties performed, the soldiers could settle in until the next sunrise for a repeat while they waited for orders from their respective capitols to tell them otherwise.

 

Alex Carter, that’s Ms. Alex Carter to you dickhead, second photojournalist at UNN (Unity News Network), was about to lose her shit and thus her reputation as the most levelheaded photojournalist on the planet. Yep, you could drop her anywhere and she’ll capture the most amazing images under the most excruciating of conditions and smile

 

Which is why you would think being in the trenches here would be so worth it. But no. After the first week when it became obvious that the war was going to settle into a stalemate UNN yanked their star reporter, Miles Forrest, out and dumped her here instead. Why? Because apparently she didn’t kiss enough royal ass or something to get the first photojournalist spot or whatever it was you needed to do.

 

But that’s okay. These boys weren’t so bad. Most of ‘em were raised right. A few smacks to the head, (why yes I DO know how to wield my knife), take their money at cards, and they’re practically carrying your gear for you.

 

Still, there were only so many inspirational shots one could take of the troops. Today was feeling different though and it wasn’t only that twilight was coming on and the Goliaths hadn’t fired a single shot.

 

It was Eli Shepherd. That soldier was an utter rock to everyone around him. She found herself studying him and noting the effect he had on others who came into contact with him. In fact she realized her hard drive of Gilboan soldiers’ photos tended to lean heavily towards having him in the shot. There was something about him that gave life to the scene, that made the image so much more real.

 

Her gut told her something was coming up. She continued to prep her cameras, check the batteries and lenses and when that was done to her satisfaction she moved to the rest of her survival pack when she was interrupted.

 

“Hey, Carter,” Eli Shepherd called softly as he hunched over and walked closer to her. “Uh, I mean Ms. Carter.”

 

She didn’t glance up from the pack she was rearranging but jerked her head in his direction to indicate she heard him. “ ‘Sup Shepherd? And I told you just Carter was fine. You almost had it perfect.” She zipped up the pocket and turned a grin on him which normally would cause Shepherd to get all flustered and go red but today only pulled a small polite smile.

 

Eli sat next to her, which was odd in itself as he normally chose to sit opposite her as it was much easier for them to joke and pelt each other with cigarette butts and the like.

He sat quietly and Alex chose not to push him and went to sorting her pack. When she’d finished she pulled out a cigarette and matches, handed one to him, and tucked the rest of the pack in his front pocket. She rarely smoked herself but she kept several packs on hand for trade. She’d noted that Eli had burned through six in a row when he’d come back late morning looking wrecked.

 

“You okay?” she asked.

 

Eli had lit up and was taking deep pulls and slowly exhaling the smoke away from her. He didn’t answer for a long time and Alex thought he had no intention so she wasn’t going to push.

 

“My baby brother’s scouting team’s gone missing.”

 

“What?”

 

“They were due back last night. They’re gone. MIA. And they’re not going to send anyone to look.”

 

Alex noted his hands shaking as he went to take another long pull even though his voice sounded calm and casual. He took one last puff and then gunned the butt against the opposite dirt wall.

 

Eli gestured to her gear all laid out and prepped. “What’s with that?”

 

Alex shrugged. “Gut feeling. Something’s going to happen in the next few hours.”

 

Eli’s eyes widened and he tilted his head slightly looking at her as if he’d never seen her before. When he spoke his voice was softer but a bit more earnest. “God tell you this?”

 

Alex stared at him, wondering if he was making fun of her and gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know. I never thought of it like that. I just…I get a feeling and I know…and it’s always right.  I just have to be where I am and do this.” She waved at her cameras and shrugged again, embarrassed.

 

“Okay,” Eli said.

 

“Will you – could you give everyone a heads up,” she made a vague waving motion with her hand, “since no one tends to believe me?”

 

“Sure. I can do that.” He gave her a real smile and reached for her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

 

Alex was shocked to her core.

 

Not because the touch was from Eli, a handsome soldier, or because a soldier had dared to touch her, but that this touch was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

 

Like what she had been taught in Sunday school that a divine touch might feel like. A touch from the hand of God that would let you know you’ve been chosen, that your path is righteous. A touch that feels like a shock but isn’t and fills you with light and color and scent and the most heartbreaking music you could ever hear and for a moment your eyes have been opened to something you can’t comprehend but it fills you with so much joy and laughter that all you can do is shake and hug yourself and sob silently as tears spill down your face.

 

Eli stared back at her in wide-eyed shock as well. He closed his eyes and slumped back against the dirt wall, trembling, their clasped hands refusing to let go.

 

“Shepherd?” she called but got no response. She leaned forward and softly touched his cheek. “Eli?”

 

He jerked his hand out of her grasp and finally met her eyes again. His expression was full of sorrow but his voice was commanding and reassuring. “Be strong for him. For them both.”

 

Then he got up, headed back down the trench and began to speak with his soldiers, passing on her warning. Alex Carter stared after him, desperate to hold on to that incredible feeling of purpose, of light, but it was already fading as if it had never happened.

 

She sighed and mentally ran through her checklist again even as her fingers deftly re-braided and re-pinned her hair. There was nothing else to do but wait.

 

**@@**

 

 

“Anything?”

 

“No sir,” Andrews replied. “No change.”

 

David crawled forward and peered through his binoculars using nightvision. Everything was as still and normal as it had been seven hours earlier when they’d arrived at the front, the only thing between them and Gilboa, trenches and freedom was 400 meters of open land, Gathian tents, Goliaths, and more open land. They’d decided on 0300 to start the last stage of their trek home.

 

And then 30 minutes after they’d settled in there was a commotion filled with shouting and two soldiers brought in to stand guard around one of the tents in the center of the camp. Two Gilboan soldiers, one with what looked to be a nasty head injury since both eyes and most of the whole top of his head was wrapped in bloodied bandages.

 

David had ordered his men to sit tight but to keep an eye on the tent in shifts. Any attempt at rescue would probably come after full dark. They, however, were so close to the Gilboan side, it was more important that their information get to command than be involved in a rescue attempt. Like the sergeant major had said, this is when people got stupid.

 

“Why aren’t they doing anything?” hissed Gardner angrily but he was only vocalizing what they all knew. If their side wasn’t attempting rescue of the prisoners now then they weren’t going to do it at all. They understood why but that doesn’t mean they had to like it.

 

David swept his binoculars over to the Gilboan side and studied the activity there. He lowered them a moment later and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before scooting back and sitting up.

 

Christos shared a glance with him and then gave him a resigned grin. “Suit up boys. El tees gonna have us do something stupid. And us so close to home too.”

 

David glanced at the others and saw matching feral grins. He turned away and used checking his gear as an excuse to not show how nervous he had been that they wouldn’t follow him on this change to their mission.

 

But this was right. Of that he had no doubt.

 

They were on their way three minutes later.

 

**@@**

 

After a dinner MRE Carter got another one of those gut feelings and pulled out her phone. She dashed off a quick message, copied it to the appropriate people and then settled in for another long night. Everyone was more relaxed now. The Goliath had done its nightly boom so the cards came out as did the cigarettes.

 

A pebble hit her helmet and she glanced up to see Shepherd grinning at her from a few feet away. “We good?” he asked. They hadn’t seen each other since he left to speak with everyone. He smiled but his eyes still seemed a bit…knowing.

 

Carter gave him her best reassuring grin. “Of course. We’re good.”

 

Shepherd nodded and held her gaze a moment longer and Carter knew she hadn’t done a good job of convincing him.

 

 

Carter wasn’t sure exactly what changed but one moment she was looking through the nightvision lense of her camera and the next her finger pressed down and began shooting high speed frames before her brain caught up to what she was seeing.

 

Two Gilboan soldiers quickly taking out the soldiers guarding the tent and then taking their weapons while a third one stood as lookout and a fourth slipped inside.

 

Carter heard Shepherd’s signal go down the line, alerting the rest of the men. She wanted to glance over at him and say thank you. Thank you for believing me, for taking action, for –“

 

“Holy shit!” exclaimed the soldier to her left in a whispered shout.

 

Carter agreed completely as she quickly swapped cameras to get tighter shots of the soldiers quickly redistributing the weapons, the one with the head injury insisting on receiving two pistols. They split into two groups of three, each with a freed soldier and began to run for the Gilboan side.

 

“Come on, come on,” came a chant from another soldier in the trenches.

 

The six were heading out, the group on the left making good time as no one was seriously injured. The second group was moving forward when one went down with a shot to the leg. He pulled himself up and continued going forward on what looked like orders as the other rescuer and “head wound guy” as she thought of him had what looked like an argument.

 

And then…and then…Carter witnessed one of the most extraordinary feats of combat.

HWG must have said something because the other soldier dove to the ground. A Gathian soldier had moved in to shoot him and the wounded soldier took him out with a single shot…blindfolded.

 

He then cocked his head to the side, listening, while his rescuer ran out of the frame. A moment later he returned with a bazooka even as HWG was slowly circling and then almost faster than the eye could follow he turned to his right and took out two soldiers and moved his left hand around to take out the one behind him and continuing in an arc he dropped low and fired straight at her, hitting the last soldier in the forehead who had been creeping up on them. It was like this beautiful, fluid dance.

 

“What the hell was that?” she heard in an awed voice. Sniper. Must have seen through his scope.

 

Ahh, Miles Forrest, you fucker, she thought with a satisfied grin. And fuck you too UNN.

 

“You little shit,” Shepherd muttered to her right. “If you die I’m gonna kill you myself. Stupid fucker.”

 

And then to Carter’s amazement as well as the rest of the men Shepherd shot out of the trench and ran out to the two soldiers who were now more than halfway across.

 

**

 

“Eli!”

 

“David, I’m gonna kick your –“

 

“Take him. Please.”

 

“What?” the injured soldier asked, his tone commanding and affronted.

 

“What’re you doing?” Eli asked at the same time.

 

David couldn’t bring himself to articulate all that he felt and how he knew where he had to be. There was no time. “I’m buying you time,” he said to Eli.”

 

He turned to the other man and grinned even though he knew he couldn’t see it but maybe he’d hear it. “Trust me.” He gripped his hand firmly and then took off with the bazooka and grenades.

 

Eli followed his baby brother’s orders, like he always did.

 

**

 

“What was all the commotion?”

 

David shrugged. He was sitting on a stool next to the soldier with a fresh set of bandages around his head. He was lying on a cot in the hospital tent and the two of them were cordoned off behind a movable screen in a corner. lkDavid had wanted, no, needed to see for himself how he was doing. “Nothing to worry about. You’re safe – relatively,” he said with dry humor.

 

The soldier grinned. “I think I heard something about a soldier named David who stood up to a Goliath? And then proceeded to take it down with one shot? Tell me someone got a shot of it. Even a grainy one on their cell phone. I want a copy.”

 

“Unlikely. The last photojournalist was bored out of his skull and went back home.” David’s tone grew serious. “Thank you for saving my life back there. I’m – I’m sorry for arguing with you.”

 

The soldier gave him a smirk. “The pleasure was all mine,” he drawled. Then the slow honeyed tone became sharp. “But if you ever, ever pull another stunt –“

 

David cut off his words with a hungry kiss.  He pulled down gently on the soldier’s jaw to open his mouth and slid his tongue inside all that hot, welcoming warmth. The soldier sucked on David’s tongue before releasing him to bite on his lower lip before pulling it into his mouth where he could swipe it with his tongue.

 

David kissed his way down the soldier’s jawline, nibbling lightly on his neck, so very, very careful, always careful not to leave marks, no matter how desperate he was to mark him with a bite, to leave a bruise. He bit his earlobe and breathed hotly into his ear. The soldier’s hands wove even tighter through David’s hair, clenching and unclenching, as his hips began to move in vain.

 

“Shhh,” David whispered, and moved his left hand down so his forearm crossed the soldier’s body while his left hand gripped the other’s right hip. “I’ve got you Jack.” He leaned over the cot even more and wrapped Jack tighter in his arms even as he buried his face in the crook of Jack’s shoulder and neck. “I’ve got you.”

 

Jack inhaled David’s scent a few times before he started to shake and tremble uncontrollably. David pulled Jack into his arms and they sat on the floor. If the world had a problem they could go to hell. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Jack whispered over and over. “I didn’t know. They’re all dead and it’s my fault –“

 

David cut him off again with another kiss and infused it with all the love he had in his heart for this man. “Jonathan,” David says softly. Jack instantly stills. David called him Jonathan only when what he had to say was so serious, so heartfelt, that he knew of no other way to make Jack understand how important it was to him. To the both of them.

 

“This is not your fault. You did the best you could. You were betrayed. You were set up. We both were. Neither one of us was to survive. But we did.” David can tell that what he’s saying is helping Jack. Not so much the words but David’s belief in him.

 

David leaned close again and whispered in his ear. “I love you, Jonathan. I think I may love you more than Gilboa.” David takes a breath and sighs. When he speaks, it’s barely audible. “And sometimes…more than God.” Jack jerks in surprise but David can sense the yearning in him too. He pulls back and Jack places a hand on David’s jaw and rubs a thumb lightly across his lower lip. He slides it over when he feels a tear and swipes it away. “Do you understand now?”

 

Jack made a choking noise and nodded his head. “I understand. I do.”

 

David smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Jack’s palm. Jack surged up and captured David’s lips for a slow, lazy kiss. When it breaks Jack grins and drawls, “Lucky me to have you. I can’t help thinking, ‘Mine’. Think your God is okay with that?”

 

David laughed softly. “I think our God certainly understands.”

 

Jack tucked his head in the crook of David’s shoulder, one hand under David’s uniform sweater and tee and absently stroked his fingers across his abdomen, happy to be able to touch him once again.

 

David held Jack close and prayed.

 

Because he wanted to do God’s will. But his heart was full of anger and hatred towards the King. David had only wanted to serve his country, serve the King, serve God.

 

But the King had broken faith; with him, with their country, with God.

 

The King had tried to kill his son Jack. To kill the one person that David loved beyond reason.

 

And so David held Jack close and prayed.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and again I'm sorry that it didn't get finished in time (because there is so much more Jack/David). This story kind of really grew big on me. I also didn't intend for the OC!female to become such a big player but my characters just come onto the page and I just channel them.
> 
> And yeah, I made David a LT because even though Silas is King I had no idea what rank David was (but it seemed lower rank enlisted) and it bothered me that he would jump a private up to Captain for saving his son's life.
> 
> Please keep checking back because I swear I will finish this story with a part 2.


End file.
